If you’ve been following my OG Travel Bloggers Still Going series, you’ll know I’ve been celebrating the travel bloggers who were there in the early days, before Instagram became a full-time career, before TikTok existed, and long before AI was writing your itineraries.
But there are some OG travel bloggers who deserve a little extra attention. These are the industry changers. The female travel bloggers, niche travel experts, and pioneering creators who didn’t simply build successful travel blogs. They helped change what was possible.
From inspiring a new generation of solo travellers and proving that travel bloggers could build serious businesses, to creating entire travel niches around packing, adventure, and accessible travel.
Adventurous Kate, My Life’s a Travel Movie, Travel Fashion Girl, and Curb Free With Cory Lee each carved out their own space in the industry.
Their stories are a reminder that the best travel bloggers have never just told us where to go. They’ve changed the way we see the world, who we believe belongs in it, and how we travel through it.
Adventurous Kate: The Solo Travel Blogger Who Changed How Women Saw the World
Kate McCulley
Website: AdventurousKate.com
Started travel blogging: 2010
Are you still actively travel blogging?
Yes.
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
I’m an educator at heart. I love breaking down big, daunting journeys and explaining to my readers exactly how to plan them, stay safe, and have a great time. I love that I’ve had a tight core of readers for so many years, and how we’ve grown together in our travels and in life.
How many countries have you visited?
99, with plans to visit numbers 100-102 in the next two months.
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
Antarctica. The best and most beautiful place on the planet – and the place that killed my ego.
One place still on your bucket list?
New Zealand. I’ve been dreaming of it for decades. It’s time to finally plan that trip.
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
What HASN’T changed?! The ecosystem is completely different. When I started, Twitter was the only social media platform bloggers were actively using. Instagram and Pinterest didn’t even exist.
These days, many people would rather watch short videos than read long blog posts. There is still very much a need for these long posts, but a lot of people get there by finding a creator on Instagram or TikTok and getting links to their deeper resources.
One thing I miss is getting thoughtful comments on every post. These days, my comments are 98% spam.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
Antarctica and the Traveler’s Ego
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Checked
Window or aisle seat?
Aisle
Did Covid make a difference to the blog?
Of course. It tanked absolutely everything, and it took a few years to get back to normal. I survived through a variety of new and wacky income streams, as well as a PPP loan from the US government, until the money began to come in again.
One unusual side effect was that I spent the summer in Croatia with my then-boyfriend, now-husband, as I waited for the Czech government to permit me to enter the country. I had been covering Croatia for years, but this gave me an opportunity to explore in much greater depth. The next year I won the Golden Pen Grand Prix, Croatia’s top travel writing award for foreigners.
Does AI make a difference to the blog?
Yes, very much so. The biggest difference is that people are shifting in their research behavior – they’re moving on from Googling travel questions to asking AI models. At the moment, my blog is doing very well, but I recognize that I need to be prepared for a future that does not depend on Google.
One thing I will say is that, as someone who specializes in solo and independent travel for women is that women will always be eager for advice from real women who have done the same thing and have personal experiences to share. That’s something an AI can’t duplicate.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
Whatever kind of creator you become, your primary focus should be helping people. Everything you do is in service to them. If you find a way to combine that help with being entertaining as hell, that’s where the magic happens.
My Life’s a Travel Movie: The Blogger Who Made Solo Female Travel Aspirational
Alyssa Ramos
Website: My Lifes a Movie
Started travel blogging: 2012
Are you still actively travel blogging?
Yes
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
Writing is still a major passion for me, and my blog is a collection of stories and experiences from my travels that I’ll always want to look back on, and I think it still helps many people travel! Plus it’s still one of my revenue streams!
How many countries have you visited?
150 as of next week!
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
Right now it’s Papua New Guinea, but I also really love Cuba (where my family is from)
One place still on your bucket list?
All the rest! My top next bucket list destinations are: Timor-Leste, Cabo Verde, and perhaps the actual North Pole (been to Antarctica 4x but “just the tip” haha)
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
Extreme oversaturation, copying, obsession with trends, all making it difficult to keep original blogs on top. Social media becoming more popular than blogs and its own industry. Now, extreme ease for people to write with AI and difficulties with search results due to it.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
About Alyssa Ramos
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Carry on
Window or aisle seat?
Window
Did COVID make a difference to the blog?
I gained a lot of new readers and followers, as it turns out, either people like to see me suffer or when I’m more relatable (I was locked down for 3 months in Spain) and not just off getting paid to travel the world.
Does AI make a difference to the blog?
Yes, makes it easier and saves time, but I still like to write my own posts.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
Don’t copy what everyone else is doing; do something new, unique, and authentic to you!
Travel Fashion Girl: The Blogger Who Turned Travel Packing Into a Business
Alexandra Jimenez
Website: TravelFashionGirl.com
Started travel blogging: 2012
Are you still actively travel blogging?
Yes
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
The community. I started this because I was tired of overpacking and knew other women were dealing with the exact same thing. I never expected it to turn into an actual conversation with hundreds of thousands of readers. That’s the part that still gets me. Women writing in with their own packing wins, their own “aha” moments. It’s not a solo project anymore; it’s ours. And my team. I owe it to them to keep going as long as I can.
How many countries have you visited?
55
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
Thailand
One place still on your bucket list?
None 🤪
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
Aside from its demise? Ha. Blogging created an entire industry, not just a way for people to make a living on their own terms, but a door for corporations to walk through and earn billions in advertising revenue off the backs of ordinary individuals sharing their lives. What started as a handful of us writing about our own stories turned into a global economy.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
Functional and Fashion Packing List
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Carry on
Window or aisle seat?
Window
Did COVID make a difference to the blog?
Traffic cratered right along with everyone’s travel plans. Nobody was searching “what to pack” when they couldn’t go anywhere. That period did teach us something we needed to learn: how to build revenue that didn’t depend entirely on people booking flights. When revenge travel finally hit, we didn’t just recover; we came back harder than before. Then, 2023 rolled in with Google’s updates and knocked the wind right back out of us.
Does AI make a difference to the blog?
AI hurt the blogging industry. It’s part of what killed the model we all built our careers on. However, it’s here to stay, so I’ve put the energy into learning where it actually helps: research, speed, the operational side of running a business like this. Used right, it frees me up for the part that made TFG work in the first place.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
Invest in the resources we didn’t have when we started: take the courses, hire the coach, give yourself every advantage. We had to figure it all out the hard way, which means you don’t have to.
Curb Free With Cory Lee: The Blogger Who Changed Accessible Travel
Cory Lee
Website: CurbFreeWithCoryLee.com
Started travel blogging: 2013
Are you still actively travel blogging?
Yes, I publish new blog posts every couple of weeks.
What keeps you blogging after all these years?
I know that people with disabilities (my audience) need accurate information when traveling, and there’s no better way to get that information to them than through the blog.
How many countries have you visited?
56 countries
Favourite destination you’ve ever visited?
Thailand
One place still on your bucket list?
I still really want to visit China.
Biggest change you’ve seen in travel blogging since you started?
The shift from blogs to Reels/TikTok style videos. When I started blogging, social media wasn’t anywhere near as important as it is today, so it’s been interesting to witness. I’m constantly adapting to new trends now.
Favourite blog post you’ve ever written:
7 Continents – 1 Wheelchair
Carry-on only or checked luggage?
Checked
Window or aisle seat?
Aisle
Did COVID make a difference to the blog?
During COVID, I definitely started publishing more U.S. travel guides, which my audience actually prefers (as opposed to so much international travel that I was doing). I also leaned more into Reels during COVID and grew my social media channels.
One piece of advice for someone starting today?
Remember why you started when you think about giving up. For me, I know that my community (wheelchair users) needs accessible travel information, so that has pushed me to keep publishing content. As long as you’re creating content with purpose, you’ll always love doing it.
OG Travel Bloggers
Love discovering the stories behind the original travel bloggers? Continue exploring the OG Travel Bloggers series:
- OG Travel Bloggers Still Going: The Original Travel Bloggers Who Built An Industry
- OG Family Travel Bloggers: The Original Family Travel Bloggers Who Changed Travel With Kids
- OG Couple Travel Bloggers: The Original Travel Couples Who Built a Life Around Travel
- OG Solo Travel Bloggers: The Original Solo Travel Bloggers Who Inspired a Generation
- OG Luxury Travel Bloggers: The Pioneers Who Elevated Travel Blogging
- OG Travel Photographers: The Original Travel Bloggers Who Turned Journeys Into Visual Stories
- OG Adventure Travel Bloggers: The Original Travel Bloggers Who Took the Road Less Travelled
- OG Travel Storytellers: The Original Travel Bloggers Who Turned Journeys Into Stories
The OGs Were Onto Something
And if there’s one thing I hope this OG series has made clear, it’s that blogging is far from dead. The platforms, algorithms, and ways we make money have changed dramatically since those early days, but the value of a great travel blog hasn’t disappeared.
In fact, with AI changing how people discover and consume information, having a real voice, first-hand experience, and somewhere you own the conversation has never been more important.
I recently spoke about exactly this at TBEX, looking at what’s actually working in travel blogging in 2026, and why I believe there is still a very real future for bloggers who are willing to evolve.
Think blogging is dead? You might want to read this before you write off your blog.
Explore With Erin Wrap Up: Celebrating The OG Travel Bloggers Who Changed The Industry
What I love about these four OG travel bloggers is that none of them simply followed the travel blogging formula. Adventurous Kate, My Life’s a Travel Movie, Travel Fashion Girl, and Curb Free With Cory Lee each found their own space, built a community around it, and proved that there was room for something different.
They helped show us that female travel bloggers could build successful businesses, that solo travel could inspire millions, that a packing blog could become an entire industry, and that accessible travel deserved a much bigger voice. And that is exactly why I wanted to include them in this OG travel bloggers series.
They were there when travel blogging was still finding its feet; they adapted as the industry changed, and they are still creating today.
After 14-plus years of travel blogging myself, I know just how much this industry has changed. Blogs have battled social media, Google updates, COVID, changing reader habits, and now AI. Yet here we are. Still writing. Still travelling. Still sharing. Still building communities.
These four are proof that the best travel bloggers don’t disappear when the algorithm changes. They evolve. And while AI can give you an itinerary in seconds, it can’t replace the woman who has actually travelled there, the blogger who knows what went wrong, the creator who can tell you whether it’s really worth it, or the person who has lived the experience and is willing to share it with you.
That is the magic of an OG travel blogger. And after all these years, I think we still have plenty of stories left to tell.
